Pro-Kurdish party members detained before Turkey's elections

ISTANBUL (AP) — A pro-Kurdish party in Turkey says party members have been detained in the lead-up to Sunday's municipal elections. The Peoples' Democratic Party, or HDP, said in a statement Saturday that 53 people were detained in Istanbul overnight. They include candidates running for municipal council seats. It said the detentions were an attack on the party that would mar the legitimacy of the elections.

Some thousands of supporters of pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party, or HDP, gather to celebrate the Kurdish New Year and to attend a campaign rally in Istanbul, ahead of local elections scheduled for March 31, 2019. Millions of Kurdish votes could be crucial in determining the outcome of the elections being held amid a heavy government crackdown on the HDP for alleged links to outlawed Kurdish militants.

March 30, 2019

Turkey's private Demiroren news agency said anti-terror police conducted simultaneous raids in multiple Istanbul districts. The government accuses the HDP of links to outlawed Kurdish militants, and 10 lawmakers, 40 mayors and thousands of activists remain jailed. On Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeated the accusation and called the party "terror lovers."

The HDP says it's running in the elections through legal, democratic means to regain seats in the predominantly Kurdish southeast.

In order to enable essential services and functionality on our site and to collect data on how visitors interact with our site, products and services we use tools such as cookies. By using our website, you agree to our use of these tools for advertising and analytics. More Info